Larry Catá Backer's comments on current issues in transnational law and policy. These essays focus on the constitution of regulatory communities (political, economic, and religious) as they manage their constituencies and the conflicts between them. The context is globalization. This is an academic field-free zone: expect to travel "without documents" through the sometimes strongly guarded boundaries of international relations, constitutional, international, comparative, and corporate law.

Sunday, May 31, 2015

With this post Flora Sapio
and I (and friends from time to time) continue an experiment in
collaborative dialogue. The object is to approach the issue of
philosophical inquiry from another, and perhaps more fundamentally
ancient, manner. We begin, with this post, to develop a philosophy for
the individual that itself is grounded on the negation of the isolated
self as a basis for thought, and for elaboration. This conversation,
like many of its kind, will develop naturally, in fits and starts. Your
participation is encouraged. For ease of reading Flora Sapio is
identified as (FS), and Larry Catá Backer as (LCB).

The friends continue their discussion from which Betita
Horm Pepulim responds to Larry, and conversation continues.

Thursday, May 28, 2015

The World Justice Project was founded by William H. Neukom in 2006 as a presidential initiative of the
American Bar Association (ABA), and with the initial support of 21
other strategic partners, the World Justice Project transitioned into an
independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 2009. Its offices are
located in Washington, DC, and Seattle, WA, USA. (here) WJP produces a Rule of Law Index that "offers a detailed, multidimensional view of the extent to which
countries adhere to the rule of law in practice, and is the most
comprehensive index of its kind." (WJP Rule of Law Index 2015). The The Rule of Law Index 2014 Report may be accessed HERE.

Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum is a platform for collaboration among individuals teaching business and human rights worldwide. The Forum seeks to promote and strengthen business and human rights education by fostering collaboration among teachers.

The Forum has just concluded its annual workshop, held at Columbia University May 18-19, 2015. The Workshop included a number of great presentations going to issues of Business and Human Rights pedagogy and the substantive issues that are developing in this new field.

This post includes the program for the 2015 Workshop along with links and descriptions of resources available to those interested in teaching the human rights elements of business governance, suitable especially for those in advanced undergraduate, law, business and international affairs schools.The PowerPoint of my presentation may be accessed HERE.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

With this post Flora Sapio
and I (and friends from time to time) continue an experiment in
collaborative dialogue. The object is to approach the issue of
philosophical inquiry from another, and perhaps more fundamentally
ancient, manner. We begin, with this post, to develop a philosophy for
the individual that itself is grounded on the negation of the isolated
self as a basis for thought, and for elaboration. This conversation,
like many of its kind, will develop naturally, in fits and starts. Your
participation is encouraged. For ease of reading Flora Sapio is
identified as (FS), and Larry Catá Backer as (LCB).

The friends continue their discussion from Parts 33-35, in which Betita
Horm Pepulim responds to Larry and Flora.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

The Association for the Study of the Cuba Economy
(ASCE) is a non-profit, non-political organization that pursues the
study of Cuba in a broad sense, with particular emphasis on the
financial, economic, social, legal and environmental aspects of Cuba
today and its process of transition and reforms. Its blog presents original contributions on the Cuban economy and society. These essays remind us both of the challenges to normalization, and the future difficulties of reform as Cuba considers the extent to which it means to plug back into the global economy.

Monday, May 25, 2015

With this post Flora Sapio
and I (and friends from time to time) continue an experiment in
collaborative dialogue. The object is to approach the issue of
philosophical inquiry from another, and perhaps more fundamentally
ancient, manner. We begin, with this post, to develop a philosophy for
the individual that itself is grounded on the negation of the isolated
self as a basis for thought, and for elaboration. This conversation,
like many of its kind, will develop naturally, in fits and starts. Your
participation is encouraged. For ease of reading Flora Sapio is
identified as (FS), and Larry Catá Backer as (LCB).

The friends continue their discussion from Parts 33-35, in which Betita Horm Pepulim responds to the idea of philosophy as a form of bureaucratism of the undifferentiated self.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

On 20 May, the European Parliament voted in favor of a proposal for a binding regulation on conflict minerals throughout sourcing enterprises' supply chains. Discussions on details of the final regulation are underway with EU member states. European Parliament, On the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council setting up a Union system for supply chain due diligence self-certification of responsible importers of tin, tantalum and tungsten, their ores, and gold originating in conflict-affected and high-risk areas (COM(2014)0111 – C7-0092/2014 – 2014/0059(COD) P8_TA(2015)0204)

The EU "Supply-Chain Due Diligence" standards will be based on the OECD Due Diligence Guidance recommendations, created to help companies respect human rights and avoid contributing to conflict through their mineral purchases from conflict areas. More HERE. The March 20915 Opinion of the EU Parliament Committee on Development follows below.

Saturday, May 23, 2015

With this post Flora Sapio
and I (and friends from time to time) continue an experiment in
collaborative dialogue. The object is to approach the issue of
philosophical inquiry from another, and perhaps more fundamentally
ancient, manner. We begin, with this post, to develop a philosophy for
the individual that itself is grounded on the negation of the isolated
self as a basis for thought, and for elaboration. This conversation,
like many of its kind, will develop naturally, in fits and starts. Your
participation is encouraged. For ease of reading Flora Sapio is
identified as (FS), and Larry Catá Backer as (LCB).

The friends continue their discussion from Part 33 and 34, in which Flora Sapio returns to the talisman.

With this post Flora Sapio
and I (and friends from time to time) continue an experiment in
collaborative dialogue. The object is to approach the issue of
philosophical inquiry from another, and perhaps more fundamentally
ancient, manner. We begin, with this post, to develop a philosophy for
the individual that itself is grounded on the negation of the isolated
self as a basis for thought, and for elaboration. This conversation,
like many of its kind, will develop naturally, in fits and starts. Your
participation is encouraged. For ease of reading Flora Sapio is
identified as (FS), and Larry Catá Backer as (LCB).

The friends continue their discussion from Part 32 and 33, in which Betita Horm
Pepulim (BHP) and Ulisses Schwarz Viana (USV) Larry Catá
Backer, consider aspects of the issues raised.

Saturday, May 16, 2015

With this post Flora Sapio
and I (and friends from time to time) continue an experiment in
collaborative dialogue. The object is to approach the issue of
philosophical inquiry from another, and perhaps more fundamentally
ancient, manner. We begin, with this post, to develop a philosophy for
the individual that itself is grounded on the negation of the isolated
self as a basis for thought, and for elaboration. This conversation,
like many of its kind, will develop naturally, in fits and starts. Your
participation is encouraged. For ease of reading Flora Sapio is
identified as (FS), and Larry Catá Backer as (LCB).

The friends continue their discussion from Part 31, in which Betita Horm Pepulim (BHP) responds to Flora Sapio with a rejoinder from Larry Catá Backer..

Friday, May 15, 2015

The Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy
has one of the most interesting and consistent scholarship on Cuba that
is straightforward and devoid of a single and relentless political
agenda--something rare in Cuban studies. Here for its Mission Statement. Twenty-four volumes of the Annual Proceedings have been published.
They are widely used inside and outside of Cuba by universities,
research centers, government agencies and others. the conferences have
been quite interesting with sometimes lively debate and an increasing
presence of scholars and others from Cuba.

The theme for the 25th Annual Conference of the ASCE is "Cuba--What's Next?,"will focus on what to expect after the recent historic announcements of changes in diplomatic relations between Cuba and the US. Will Cuba make the necessary internal economic reforms to attract enough foreign direct investment to spur economic growth? When will currency reform be implemented? When will the agricultural sector be restructured to increase productivity and output? Can we expect Cuba to develop its banking system and establish well-functioning capital markets? The conference will also include a plenary session on Cuban economic and political trends as well as sessions on social, legal, and sectoral issues related to the economy and a student panel.

The criminalization of sexual assault has also become an issue of general concern. The issues raised go to the heart of two
great trends in U.S jurisprudence. The first is the move toward the
criminalization of behaviors that society, through the state, seeks to
control. The second touches on the value of the use of the criminal law
as an instrument of social and cultural change. A subsidiary issue that is related to the use of the criminal law as an agent for cultural change involves the way that customary rules of process fairness are bent to the greater policy goals.There are many who view
criminalization and the use of law instrumentally, and especially the
criminal law, as a valuable tool for societal progress. There are many
who disagree. Consider the position of 16 Penn Law faculty members wrote this open letter criticizing aspects of that policy, and of the federal government’s actions.

This
general legal and political conflict has now spilled over into a battle
over the approach and language of any new provision for the
criminalization of sexual assault that is at the heart of the ALI's project, Model Penal Code: Sexual Assault and Related Offenses.

Purpose:
This project will re-examine Article 213 of the Model Penal Code, which was ahead of its time when approved by the ALI in 1962, but is now outdated and no longer a reliable guide for legislatures and courts.

Status:
Tentative Draft No. 1 was presented to the membership at the 2014 Annual Meeting. As time ran out before the discussion could be concluded, no vote was taken to approve the draft.

Between the 2014 meeting and the upcoming meeting of the ALI, a number of ALI members have raised some objections to the approach to be taken by the project's reporter, Stephen J. Schulhofer and its associate reporter, Erin E. Murphy, both of NYU Law School. These objections go to the heart of the conflicts that go to the policy underlying contemporary efforts to change cultures and control behaviors now understood as sexual assault. Their memo follows.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Venkatesh Nayak, Programme Coordinator, Access to Information Programme, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in New Delhi, has requested the circulation of the following essay, Proposals to amend the Whistleblower Protection Act approved by the Lok Sabha amidst Opposition walkout. His main point: "It is indeed a sad day for whistleblowers who have been martyred or
attacked for daring to expose the truth about corruption through
whistleblowing in India. The Lok Sabha has approved the regressive
proposals tabled by the Central Government which will effectively
prevent most whistleblower complaints from even being inquired into by
the competent authorities. "

This is a supplement to his earlier essay entitled, If
the Whistleblower Act amendments go through it might be easier to pass a
camel through the eye of a needle than to get a whistleblower complaint
inquired which can be accessed HERE.

With this post Flora Sapio
and I (and friends from time to time) continue an experiment in
collaborative dialogue. The object is to approach the issue of
philosophical inquiry from another, and perhaps more fundamentally
ancient, manner. We begin, with this post, to develop a philosophy for
the individual that itself is grounded on the negation of the isolated
self as a basis for thought, and for elaboration. This conversation,
like many of its kind, will develop naturally, in fits and starts. Your
participation is encouraged. For ease of reading Flora Sapio is
identified as (FS), and Larry Catá Backer as (LCB).

The friends continue their discussion from Part 31, in which Flora Sapio confronts the talisman quality of the self.

The essay was produced for the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Right to Information Act (RTI Act) in India. It considers the effects of The Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015.

The amendments to the bill are being carried out with a view to incorporate necessary provisions aimed at strengthening safeguards against disclosures which may prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of the country and security of the state, among other things. While government insists the amendments would address concerns relating to national security, some activists have claimed that it will dilute the measure. (Bill to amend whistleblowers law introduced in Lok Sabha, Indian Express, May 11, 2015)

For more on that amendment see HERE and HERE. The essay that follows suggests that the amendments do in fact dilute whistle blower protection substanbtially more than any purported benefit to national sovereignty and security. It speaks particularly to the ways that the formal protections of a whistle blower provision may actually undermine the fundamental purposes of whistle blower statutes. In effect it throws a useful light on a manifestation of the great tensions in such acts between institutional loyalties and the radical undermining for a greater purpose that whistle blowing represents. For a different view see here.

The essay follows. For those interested in the subject from a comparative perspective it also provides a wealth of original source material. It is especially useful for understanding the trans cultural character of the sorts of traps for the unwary, and the undermining frameworks, of whistleblower provisions. It may be especially useful for those confronting similar issues in the United States (see, e.g., here and here).

The Indian Whistle Blower Protection Act of 2011 No. 17 of 2014 (9 May 2014) can be accessed HERE.

His latest research focuses in part on the similarities and differences between China and India. See Surya Deva (ed.), Socio-Economic Rights in Emerging Free Markets: Comparative Insights from India and China (London: Routledge) (forthcoming 2014). It is in that context that Professor Deva recently published an essay focusing on the pitfalls of any temptation for Inida to follow China's path to economic development. Surya Deva, Despite its democratic DNA, will India be lured by China's economic model?,South China Morning Post, May 11, 2015. The essay and some comments, appear below.

About the Casebook:This
book explores the field of law and religion integrating cases and
theory in an accessible and balanced way. The third edition is
incredibly up-to-date, including Hobby Lobby, Town
of Greece, Hosanna Tabor, Salazar v. Buono, and Arizona v. Winn, just
to name a few. It addresses the continuing debate over the meaning of
the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment and the evolution of
church/state Law. The book includes article excerpts
from some of the leading thinkers in the field. New to the third
edition is a section addressing comparative law and religion; an
important and timely addition to the book in our increasingly globalized
field. The new edition also adds a section in Chapter
One addressing the major tests used in Establishment Clause cases to
lay the groundwork for students before they read the cases from which
those tests are derived in later chapters. (See
more...)

If
you would like to request a complimentary print or digital copy of the
casebook, or if you have questions about downloading the Teacher’s
Manual or creating an account, please contact your West
Academic Publishing Account Manager at accountmanager@westacademic.com.

One of the most interesting aspects of the battle over the control of the discourse of global trade and investment--represented on one side by the Trans Pacific Partnership and its European analogue (the Trans Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), and on the other by recent efforts of China to establish a new trade infrastructure around a web of trade deals and the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank on the nature and role of state intervention and operation within markets. It is here that one sees the great divide between Chinese and Western macro economic policies, and the space within which these distinct visions are most likely to clash.

This symposium assesses and evaluates the extent of change in private law and business regulation that transcends the nation state. Such law and regulation seek to produce order in an issue area that relevant actors construe as a problem. These problems range from labor rights of garment workers to food safety; to securities fraud and financial crises; to corporate social responsibility; to the allocation of authority among courts to hear transnational disputes. The legal norms adopt various legal forms and they vary in their formally binding nature. The legal norms are transnational insofar as they transcend and permeate state boundaries, since the problems are deemed difficult or impossible to address by a single nation state. National legislatures often do not play a central role in many of these areas.

The symposium evaluates developments in these areas, and the challenges and limits various initiatives face. The symposium brings leading legal theorists and empirical scholars from different countries into dialogue. The participants will engage, in particular, with the theoretical lens of “transnational legal orders” as elaborated in the new book by Terence Halliday and Gregory Shaffer, Transnational Legal Orders (Cambridge University Press 2015).

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Copyright; Citation and Attribution:

All essays are (c) Larry Catá Backer except where otherwise noted. All rights reserved. The essays may be cited and quoted with appropriate reference. Suggested reference as follows: Larry Catá Backer, [Essay Title], Law at the End of the Day, ([Essay Posting Date]) available at [http address].

The author holds a faculty appointment at Pennsylvania State University. Notice is hereby given that irrespective of that appointment, this blog serves as a purely personal enterprise created to serve as an independent site focusing on issues of general concern to the public. The views and opinions expressed here are those of its author. This site is neither affiliated with nor does it in any way state, reflect, or represent the views of Pennsylvania State University or any of its entities, units or affiliates.

Ravitch and Backer's Law and Religion: Cases, Materials, and Readings

3rd Edition 2015

Broekman and Backer, Signs in Law

Springer 2014

BACKERINLAW--PERSONAL WEBSITE

Here you can find my published work, manuscripts, presentations, and more!

Globalization Law and Policy Series from Ashgate Publishing

Globalization: Law and Policy will include an integrated bodyof scholarship that critically addresses key issues and theoretical debates in comparative and transnational law. Volumes in the series will focus on the consequential effects of globalization, including emerging frameworks and processes for the internationalization, legal harmonization, juridification and democratization of law among increasingly connected political, economic, religious, cultural, ethnic and other functionally differentiated governance communities. This series is intended as a resource for scholars, students, policy makers and civil society actors, and will include a balance of theoretical and policy studies in single-authored volumes and collections of original essays.

An interview with the Series EditorQueries and book proposals may be directed to:Larry Catá BackerW. Richard and Mary Eshelman Faculty Scholarand Professor of Law, Professor of International AffairsPennsylvania State University239 Lewis Katz BuildingUniversity Park, PA 16802email: lcb911@gmail.com

About Me

I hope you enjoy these essays. Each treats aspects of the relationship between law, broadly understood, and human organization. My essays are about government and governance, based on the following assumptions: Humans organize themselves in all sorts of ways. We bind ourselves to organization by all sorts of instruments. Law has been deployed to elaborate differences between economic organizations (principally corporations, partnerships and other entities), political organization (the state, supra-national, international, and non-governmental organizations), religious, ethnic and family organization. I am not convinced that these separations, now sometimes blindly embraced, are particularly useful. This skepticism serves as the foundation of the essays here. My thanks to Arianna Backer for research assistance.